406 cook's voyage to aug. 



We spent the night making short boards, the weather 

 being misty and rainy, with little wind ; and between 

 four and five in the morning of the 8th, we had again 

 a sight of the north-west land ; and, soon after, on 

 account of a calm, and a current driving us toward 

 the shore, we found it necessary to anchor in twelve 

 fathoms water, about two miles from the coast. Over 

 the western extreme is an elevated peaked hill, situ- 

 ated in latitude 65 36', and in longitude 192 18'. 

 A breeze at north-east springing up at eight o'clock, 

 we weighed, and stood to the south-east, in hopes of 

 finding a passage between the coast on which we 

 had anchored on the 6th in the evening, and this 

 north-west land ; but we soon got into seven fathoms 

 water, and discovered low land connecting the two 

 coasts, and the high land behind it. 



Being now satisfied that the whole was a continued 

 coast, I tacked, and stood away for its north-west 

 part, and came to an anchor under it in seventeen 

 fathoms water. The weather, at this time, was very 

 thick with rain ; but, at four next morning, it cleared 

 up, so that we could see the land about us. A high 

 steep rock or island bore west by south ; another 

 island to the north of it, and much larger, bore west 

 by north ; the peaked hill above mentioned, south 

 east by east ; and the point under it, south, 3 C 2 east. 

 Under this hill lies some low land, stretching out to- 

 ward the north-west, the extreme point of which, bore 

 north-east by east, about three miles distant. Over, 

 and beyond it, some high land was seen, supposed to 

 be a continuation of the continent. 



This point of land, which I named Cape Prince of 

 Wales, is the more remarkable, by being the western 

 extremity of all America hitherto known. It is situ- 

 ated in the latitude of 65 46', and in the longitude 

 of 191 45'. The observations by which both were 

 detrmined, though made in sight of it, were liable 

 to some small error, on account of the haziness of the 



